Reminder: You're not in a Canadian school

Day 12 – May 13

I’m sometimes quite surprised by the difference in the two Form I classes that I have. The 1A class is attentive, hardworking, and generally gets things quickly while the 1B class is much more distracted, chatty and slow. Though I taught the same lesson to both classes today, things were a lot tougher going in the 1B class. But I suppose that can happen anywhere.

Unfortunately, the lasting memory of this day will be the displeasure I had of witnessing a caning. Well, I didn’t quite see it with my eyes, but it happened just outside the open staffroom door (2m from where I sit), so I heard it loud and clear and it was unmistakeable. I could have got up to watch it, but just didn’t want to. It felt horrible sitting there as I heard each whap followed by the high-pitched yelp of the student. Five times, I think. The tool was a sturdy branch from a tree outside.

It’s not at all pleasant to go through that (and I’m not even the student) knowing that your hands are tied and there’s not much you can do. Here it’s still quite accepted in the school system. It’s not like it happens every day, but even once is enough for me. Later I had lunch with another Tanzanian friend, and when the incident came up in conversation, I was surprised to hear that he supported corporal punishment in the school – and he’s a peace and conflict lawyer that travels internationally!

It was, in fact, the second form of punishment I had witnessed that day. Early in the morning, the 1B class was punished by the headmaster for not carrying out their water-fetching duties properly yesterday. First he made them kneel on the ground for about 10 minutes. Then he made them all frog hop to the other side of the yard and back, twice. The kids couldn’t touch the ground with their hands though…all legs. They did it with a half smile on their face because, admittedly, it did look a little ridiculous, but all the same some were struggling through it. Again, you just can’t imagine a principal in Canada ever doing that to students.

So those two events made up the lowlights of the day. On a positive note, my classes with the Form Is today involved using the new dictionaries brought with the donated monies. The kids were eager and excited to get their hand on them, and it was nice to see.